Prof. Sashi Kunnath from University of California at Davis visited the Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University on April 10, 2018. He gave a comprehensive presentation titled “Modeling Issues in Collapse Simulation of RC Structures”. This presentation examined current modeling methods for collapse simulation of reinforced concrete frame buildings. This talk also reviewed both gravity-induced collapse from extreme loads and lateral collapse under seismic loads. Modeling advances at the component, connection and system level for large-deation analyses and the consideration of relevant failure modes were summarized.

After the presentation, Prof. Sashi Kunnath had further discussions with the audiences about the modeling methods and applications for collapse simulation of RC structures.

Sashi Kunnathis Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of California at Davis (UCD) where he served as Chair of the Civil Engineering department from 2009 – 2015. He received his undergraduate degree from Bangalore University (India), his Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand) and his PhD at the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York.  His research interests include perance-based seismic engineering, nonlinear modeling of structural behavior and structural response evaluation under extreme loads. He serves on numerous technical committees of ACI and ASCE. He erly served as the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering (2003 – 2010) and also chaired the ASCE Technical Administrative Committee on Dynamic Effects and the Technical Committee on Seismic Effects. He has received various research and service awards including: the 2012 Norman Medal from ASCE, the Richard Torrens Award in 2009, the Raymond Reese Research Prize from ASCE in 2008, and the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Structural Research Award in 2001. He is Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (2007), the American Society of Civil Engineers (2010) and the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute (2013).